View of Shiba Coast (Shibaura no kei), with shades of light blue water, No.108 from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)
Medium
Color woodblock print
Dimensions
36.1 × 23.6 cm (14 3/16 × 9 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
150347
Art Historical Context
In the final masterpiece of Utagawa Hiroige's illustrious career, *View of Shiba Coast (ibaura no kei), with shades of light blue* (No. 108 from the series *One Hundred Famous Views of Edo*), created in 1856, we glimpse the serene beauty of Edo's (modern Tokyo's) waterfront. This color woodblock print captures theiba Coast along Tokyo Bay, where gentle waves in delicate shades of light blue lap against the shore, evoking a peaceful moment amid the bustling late Edo period. Hiroshige, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") tradition, produced this as part of his monumental 1...
About the Artist
Utagawa Hiroshige · 1826–1869
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), born Andō Tokutarō, was the last great master of Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock printmaking and one of the most influential landscape artists in history. Born in Edo (modern Tokyo) into a low-ranking samurai family serving as fire wardens, Hiroshige transformed landscape printmaking into a poetic meditation on nature, weather, and everyday life. His revolutionary approac...